Comparative Impacts of Risk and Protective Factors on Alcohol-Related Problems in a Sample of University Students

• NCJ Number: 229111
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 48 Issue: 8 Dated: November-December 2009 Pages: 696-709
• Author(s): Keith F. Durkin; Amber Blackston; Sabrina Dowd; Shalleigh Franz; Trevor Eagle
• Date Published: November 2009
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the comparative influences of various protective and risk factors on the alcohol-related problems of a sample of 1,459 students from 4 U.S. colleges and universities.

Abstract

The study found that the measured risk factors were positively related to the alcohol-related problems of the students. Among these risk factors, differential peer associations was the best predictor of alcohol-related problems, including having blackouts, hangovers, missing class because of drinking, falling behind in their studies, doing something that they later regreted, arguing with friends, high risk of involvement in physical fights, and getting into trouble with the police. Differential peer association involves exposure to individuals who habitually engage in behaviors that depart from the norms and values of positive social and vocational achievement. Protective factors were negatively associated with the alcohol-related problems of the students. Among the protective factors, three variables (being African-American, high grade point average, and acceptance of conventional beliefs) were most protective in preventing alcohol-related problems. Although the study findings suggest that both risk factors and protective factors are important in predicting the alcohol-related problems of the students, a model based solely on risk factors is far superior to a model based only on protective factors. Moreover, in a combined model, risk factors, especially differential peer associations, were generally more important than protective factors in explaining alcohol-related problems. The majority of the sample (55.7 percent) were female, and the mean age of the participants was 19.9 years old. White students composed 82.9 percent of the sample. Students completed the College Student Lifestyle Inventory survey, which contains a variety of measures of both risk factors and protective factors related to alcohol problems. The dependent variable was a summary index of the number of alcohol-related problems reported by respondents in the 12 months before the survey. 3 tables, 39 references, and appended descriptions of risk and protective factors